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Mar 13 //
Raz RaufThe article elaborates on the team making it, Grounding Inc., who consist of many veterans from Panzer Dragoon, such as Futatsugi's former boss, Tomohiro Kondo being the lead game designer this time, and how it all evokes a sense of nostalgia for everyone involved.
While you may think that the link between the two games is clear and simple, it wasn't initially Futatsugi's intention for that to happen. Futatsugi had totally different ideas to pitch to Microsoft for a Kinect game, but it was Microsoft who wanted a rail shooter in the same vein as Panzer Dragoon. Futatsugi soon learned why. "...I realized that a rail shooter is perfect for Kinect. Kinect can't handle too much movement -- you can't move totally freely. Also, it's better to keep the number of recognized movements simple so as not to confuse the Kinect system -- and these things make a rail shooter the ideal choice."
Finally, when asked about concerns on how original Panzer Dragoon fans will feel about this game, Futatsugi stated that we obviously wanted to make a better game, but also that Panzer Dragoon is Sega's IP and hence a different game in many ways, such as dragon design concepts and environments. He just hopes to finish this game and get people to feel that people will view Crimson Dragon as a game that Panzer Dragoon would have been like if it had been made today.
I for one, echo that sentiment. Now I just gotta wait a little longer...right?
Crimson Dragon still lives - and is not far from completion [Eurogamer]

And coming soon apparently...Remember that game? You know, that Xbox Live Arcade Kinect shooter that looks like Panzer Dragoon being made by many of the guys from Panzer Dragoon. It looked to be one of if not the most impressive Kinect game to date, unti...

Mar 13 //
Raz Rauf
The return of the "Killer Series"
Yasuda recalls KID [Killer Is Dead] coming about at the end of 2009, during the development of Lollipop Chainsaw where Suda51 came up to him to present ideas on what to work on next together. Being a huge fan of Suda's "Killer Series" [Killer 7, No More Heroes, and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle], he really wanted to work on such a game, so it was an easy choice for him. For Suda, the idea of those games had been on his mind for a while previously, namely the desire to improve on them. Upon showing the idea to Yasuda, he realized that he wanted to compliment Lollipop Chainsaw's "sunny" and joyful existence by making a dark, "shadowy" contrasting piece.
As with Lollipop Chainsaw, there's a natural allocation and division of roles between the two guys, with Suda taking command of game planning, and Yasuda quality management. Regarding game content, Suda usually handles the game design and visuals, and Yasuda deals with the battle systems and event scenes.
As you are probably aware by now, the protagonist of the game, Mondo Zappa, is not your conventional professional killer. He's an executioner -- a man whose manner in which he kills his enemies has a nuance of someone waiting for their execution. In Suda's words, he's a "big-AAA international criminal-obliterating-businessman-type hero." He goes on to state he's a big fan of the Japanese TV institution, the Hissatsu period drama series, and Hiroshi Hirata's manga series 'Kubidai Hikiukenin.' Add the modernistic influences gained from being in a theater establishment called "America," and that is how he was able to create the hero, Mondo Zappa.
Famitsu asked about whether Suda was conscious and concerned about the Western market, and whether it affected his decision making, such as trying to make macho protagonist that Western gamers would accept. Suda wondered why that machismo didn't come about in Mondo's character. He instead left that role to Mondo's boss, the half-cyborg Brian Roses. Suda says that Mondo is a smart guy who's uncomfortable about killing but has an on switch in his head that allows him to change instantaneously to do his job. He likens Mondo's character to a one Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, particularly the separation of work and life, resulting in a man of emotional restraint.
Not just your average hard-boiled affair
Moving onto the nature of the story, the tone from the trailer suggests that KID might be a hard-boiled existence. Suda does agree that it has a serious tone, but Mondo is not a solitary hero here. Though he has an air of superiority and arrogance about him, he does have people who support him. Suda says the story thus becomes one of how Mondo grows as a professional, and hopes for not only a hard-boiled tale, but also a tale about an executioner's solitude together with a glimpse into the bonds between comrades.
When Suda first announced the game back in April 2012, he teased that the game incorporates the "dark side of 007." He finally elaborated here by saying that though Bond is a secret government agent and goes deep underground to solve incidents, those incidents are typically public. Suda feels that there is a deep-seeded underworld that is separate and not at all visible to the public living on the surface, "like a red-light district." Never bringing themselves to the surface, Suda feels there are men who fight night and day within these confines, and him wanting to show that is what he meant by KID portraying the "dark side of 007."
Mondo Zappa -- Japanese gigolo
Suda has portrayed romance in intriguing ways in his games, and KID is no different with "Gigolo Mode." Keeping with the Bond theme, all Suda could say for now is that it's a mode where Mondo emulates the secret agent, having the opportunity to charm ladies of the world. He also jokes and deduces that the girls will probably come across as "Mondo Girls" due to the reference.
Famitsu asked if this curious mode was a version of one of Suda's hobbies to which he laughed and denied. He insisted was a decision made by everyone. It had small beginnings, but much like the stress felt by the development team as deadlines encroached closer and closer, they realized that this could be a mode where through its ridiculously wacky system of "light and easy bartering for women," you and Mondo can relax and enjoy yourselves here after each long, arduous fight to the death.
With women being from all over the world, this also means that you'll also be fighting all over the world. But sadly it won't be as much as you think, as though Bond has been to many parts of the world in his 23 films, the game had to be more limited and it just wasn't possible. However, regarding the vast array of women on offer, Suda does advise players to be careful. Mess around too much then there can be some undesirable consequences, particularly from the two female leads, Vivian and Mika.
The first female lead Vivian is 25, and Mondo is 35, leading to an impression that she's like his little sister. Suda heartily revealed that initially she was to be a 68-year-old plastic-surgery-laden "beautiful witch." Instead, she has a calm wisdom about her, and it is Mika who is in fact the contrasting junior character here, being the "charming pet" younger sister Mondo never had.
Suda teased you would have to play to find out to see whether anything happens between Mondo and the two women, though he did say that it was never good to get involved with a co-worker and laughed, as if he was talking from experience. He did confirm that if Mondo's the hero, then Vivian and Mika are definitely the heroines of KID.
Lights, camera, action
From the trailer, many of you will have seen that Suda's distinct visual style is back in full force. Suda was proud to introduce their new and unique tone shader, dubbed "High Contrast Shading." It has enabled him to make some damn pretty pictures, and ones he feels are the best they've been able to achieve so far, and will allow people to be immediately able to say "that's KID."
As you also may have noticed, KID does look visually reminiscent of Killer 7, and feels like a significant improvement. "With Killer 7, I feel what we produced was the best we could achieve at the time. However, upon looking back on it, no matter how you look at it, it does feel outdated," Suda reflects. However, this is what gave him the motivation to improve and arrive with the new visual techniques today.
Yasuda claims the development has resulted in really picturesque images. However, though realistic, Yasuda says they "strove more for stylistic beauty with the visuals." He goes on to say that they are the most extraordinary feature of the game, and even claim that "it will express the delicate touch characteristic of Japan, in showing a world where the intent to kill and love is bared so."
Onto the action, swords and guns are both present in this game, but the sword will always be the main weapon. Yasuda explains the gun in the left hand can be used to, among other things, to "break the enemy's posture and eradicate the core parts of the enemy."
Furthermore, you can exchange parts of your left hand weapon, which "will change its effects and prove useful, particularly in boss battles." It will also change the way you fight depending on the situation, and help expand the battle system.
This idea of weapon exchange was always part of the plan according to Suda, who wanted the left hand to be able to do numerous things, such as "becoming a fork for mealtime, or a drill to dismantle large, heavy mechanical enemies." When it comes to romancing, however, Suda laughs by saying it is only then you can't turn your arm into a drill. So no luck for sadists.
Furthermore, Mondo's left arm also has the ability to steal and absorb enemy's blood, which is inspired by magical powers seen in RPGs. The blood is called "Dark Matter" and upon fusing with humans, "it embraces the evil within them and gives them energy" to slay your enemies.
There's also a growth system for Mondo, which by doing things such as using the same moves often, is pretty orthodox at its core. "For example, when you're about to deliver the final blow to an enemy, you have a choice of various arts to perform, and depending on that choice the skills and abilities of the character will change," Suda explains. Thus there's an emphasis on growth through action.
Moreover, upon defeating an enemy, mineral items are dropped and can be collected to power up your weapons. The amount you get per enemy depends on how effectively you kill them, and that's another fun factor Suda wanted to add in. But rather than button mashing, Suda hopes you will enjoy playing the game with the thought of how you wish to see Mondo grow.
And now for something completely different
Another unique characteristic of a Suda51 game is presenting us with some crazy, extraordinary moments that we can never realistically experience. Famitsu asked if there would be any more of that in this game, and Suda initially laughs, saying that there were many ideas that he wasn't able to include. One thing he was able to put in the game is the "Fight the tiger-riding yakuza" situation. "Within the traditional scenery of Kyoto, a bike-riding Mondo fights a tiger-riding yakuza!"
Sadly there's currently no image showing this ridiculously awesome moment. Instead, Suda points out that in fact there are other games that are fully loaded with moments we can never experience, but for him with KID, he just always had a "marvelous image" of fighting in Kyoto. He guesses that it must've meant that he just wants to show foreign players the grandeur of Kyoto.
Right now, the game is around 70 percent complete, with a summer release scheduled. In the meantime, they are hard at work fine-tuning the balance and brushing up the game. In his final comments, Suda hopes that players will be able to appreciate KID's beauty from just one frame and button press, and be able to say "that's Japanese action!" Yasuda reflects on a long and eventful journey the two have traveled together, and asks us to look forward to some exciting promotions that will be in the similar vein of the Lollipop Chainsaw's ones.
So all in all, expect a fun time killing bad guys and their tigers, sexing women all over the world, and battling with your deep-seeded conscience. Only in a Suda51 game, eh?
新たな"殺し屋"シリーズ、『KILLER IS DEAD（キラー イズ デッド）』！ 開発のキーマンを直撃!! [Famitsu]

Suda51 dishes the dirt on his upcoming game2013 is the year of Suda51's next production, Killer Is Dead. In January, the game began its PR train with a cool, stylishly seductive trailer that oh teased us so. However, Famitsu was able to get a detailed interview out of him and his partner-in-crime from Kadokawa Games, Yoshimi Yasuda, in which they discuss everything from American Psycho and Bond, to gigolos and tiger-riding yakuza!

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Capcom wants us to play a little game together.
Take a look at these three new short clips for Street Fighter X Tekken below.
Look closely now...
What do you see? If you can work out what these images are, then tell us in the comments section below, and show Capcom who's daddy. Don't forget to also voice your feelings on your divine revelations, and whether you welcome them or not.

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Oct 04 //
Raz Rauf
Nostalgia is the name of the game -- trying to accurately recreate the stages and music of Sonic that made it iconic so long ago, while adding a few tweaks here and there. Regarding stage creation and selection, Iizuka said that there would inevitably be bias from whichever development team they chose to select the stages. Therefore, they collected opinions from Sega of America, the British division of Sega Europe, Internet surveys, and ordinary fans.
There are nine stages in total -- three each from the Genesis era, the Dreamcast era, and the current era, with bosses and additional rival stages from those periods as well. Iizuka hopes to include plenty of surprises along the way, using Sonic Adventure 2's City Escape stage as an example, in which the truck at the end was never planned. Trying to convert 3D roaming stages like this one into 2D allows the developers to have fun incorporating ideas and trying to create completely new stages.
The interviewer here pointed out that not many 3D-roaming games revert back to 2D-sidescrolling nowadays, to which Iizuka agrees that the strength of 3D action games means that there "may be some inevitable damage in making a 2D game" and that "wondering how we could make it just as enjoyable was difficult." However, he has faith in his young team of developers, who have played all the stages to death, are aware of all the good and bad parts from Sonic over the last two decades, and are now in charge of level designs themselves.
Moving onto stereoscopic 3D, Iizuka laughs that he was its only advocate. He saw some exciting developments after a bit of trial and error, particularly with the depth that 3D can offer, allowing to "easily produce a sense of distance," and thus in his view, "making stereoscopic 3D and action games a pretty good combination." Though the 3DS version shares the first stage -- Green Hill Zone -- with the home consoles -- all other stages are exclusive to either console or handheld. This is due to the different 2D and 3D configurations, leading to two types of 2D stages -- modern (Sonic Rush style) and classic. Iizuka reassures 3DS lovers that "there will be plenty of mechanisms incorporated to make you aware of 3D objects," leading the 3DS version to be what is essentially "three-dimensional sidescrolling action."
After Iizuka mentions the special compilation CDs -- available in Japan and Europe and consisting of music from the first stages of every Sonic game, as well as minor songs that have never been included in previous collections -- the interviewer concludes by asking Iizuka how he sees Sonic evolving and whether we'll see more of him in the future. He comments that they’re seeing good things both in 2D and 3D and that he wants to continue the trend of releasing games in both forms, such as Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 and Sonic Colors last year. He confirms that work on Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 has started and that he wants to "make 3D action games that will surprise you in a good way."
Though reassuring us that the core Sonic franchise's being action-oriented will not change, he understands that each genre is limited by the number of customers it has. He wishes to see Sonic expand into other genres and wants to see non-action genre players say, "I know that blue character!" He ends by saying that "we want to challenge other genres apart from the Olympics! [laughs]"
So after all this, plus some inside info from a confidant in Sega Europe who said that the company is really putting all its heart into this game, are any of you confident enough to say that this game will be awesome, are you going to stay cautiously optimistic like Jim, or do you just feel it's too late for Sonic? Tell us how you feel about seeing Sonic in other places, and give us examples of where he could or should feature.
A Challenge only for the 20th Anniversary -- Interview with Sonic Generations Producer Iizuka [Inside Games][JP]

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